Battle of El Dorado
Calm before a Storm Legs had sailed ahead of the remainder of her fleet upon her own flagship, Justice, a massive, island sized fortress on the seas. Despite only being a single ship, it required virtually an army for it to function properly. On board, there were dozens of shipwrights and engineers scurrying around to ensure that it would run at max efficiency, and thousands of men on-board to man the hundreds of cannons and weaponry that constituted it. Still, this was common practice. She would often do damage with her flagship, and then send in her fleet so secure the rest, when she was directly involved. A majority of the time, it was Wolfgang’s job to travel around the world, conquering in her name, but now, he was off doing some great deeds in her name…or maybe not. He was a tad bit uncontrollable. Loveable, but uncontrollable. Legs sat up from her seat, pulling herself from her slumber. Such was the common practice before a battle. She often ate and napped to conserve her energy. It was a practice she was used to. She learned It as a child on Wano and retained the habit even into her early fifties. She stood up, stepped into her elevator at the end of her office, and waited as she was carried ten stories down onto the deck of the ship, where her executives of the crew waited patiently. She could always pick them out. While a majority of her army ran around desperately preparing for battle, they were seen waiting, smiling, and enjoying the peace before the storm. She stepped from the elevator, approaching the circle of people that awaited her: Wynn Erin, Jack Frost, Thatch Vincent, Zahara Annabeth, and Draco D. Indiana. “Erin,” Legs begun formally, “I want to thank you for joining us on this expedition today. You’re going to be pivotal to our plans when we reach El Dorado in an hour.” She turned to face the remainder of her executives, smiling as she did so. “Which, I hope you all remember, it to stay on the boat until I signal otherwise. We want to survey things out first, and there is no doubt that they’ve seen us coming. Suggestions, questions, concerns?” Erin smiled at Legs. "Not a problem at all, I'm happy to disrupt the plans of the World Government. If I recall correctly this is a colony of Marines and World Government employed workers who mine gold for the Celestial Dragons right." He spoke. "That's what she said to ya isn't it." Thatch sighed, twirling a sleek dagger in his hand. "Money comes out and the Celestial Dragons snatch get their pay to foster their vicious slave cycle again and again." Thatch sighed. He didn't really care about anyone on the island or their reasoning for whatever they were doing. He just wanted some new experimental data. "Precisely why we're doing all this, kill those World Government bastards and take those shitty Celestial Dragons gold." Erin cheered. He was quite excited for all of this. Getting the government back for all the terrible things they'd done and an island full of terrible people getting shut down all in one blow. "So Legs, do you really think we need all this for an island? I feel like most of us could take them down on our own. Regardless though I'm just ready to kill something and go back to my lab." Thatch spoke before turning to Annabeth. "How've you been recently, stilling working as hard as ever for the health of our crew?" His tone was much more cheery when speaking to her. Jack seemed to have been in his own world for a moment. His mind wandering off as if it were a stray boat out at sea. On that boat, were the thoughts and memories of a little loud mouth brat he'd seemingly found himself tagged with more than often. He was, Buster D. Zack, adoptive son of Legs herself. All Jack could hear in his head was, "You long-braided jackass." Over and over again like a broken record. Normal, one would find themselves annoyed but Jack seemed to have been pleased with it, as just the thought caused him to close his eyes as if it were some sort of good tasting food. "That damned brat." He thought to himself, pausing to think about all the trials they'd faced together. "You better not die before I can see you again, Zack." The opening of the elevator was like a signal to snap back to reality. "Erin hasn't been around for that long, Captain Legs," As he spoke, a cold mist left his mouth capable of causing those on the ship to shiver, "And I most certainly choose not to belittle his skills. But, don't you think it's a bit too early to trust him with pivotal duties? Again, this is by no means any disrespect to you, Erin." A cup of tea at hand, Draco D. Indiana took a ship of it, before speaking, "As powerful together as we all are, Vincent." He mused, eyes closed. "Don't let it get to your head, lad." Another sip. Unlike Legs, Indiana had a different ritual before any battle, and that was to drink just any kind of tea. He paid no mind at all towards Legs' comment to this Erin lad, after all, Indiana had never been one to warn Legs, he had never been one to feel jealous. Indiana trusted that Legs knew her own matters. For someone who had lived so long with Legs, such as Indiana, he could very well say that words weren't everything. "Chill a bit, Jack-chan." Indiana opened one eye to glance at his companion, cup close to his mouth as he blew some air into it. "We have built several schemes for this attack, and the important is remembering that we are together in this, hmmmm," Indiana smiled, shrugging slightly. "Though, El Dorado certainly is a nice place! I'm looking forward to delving into it whenever possible." "Yes, Indiana!" Legs announced, "Not the El Dorado thing, but about the scheme bit. Look, Jack. Thanks for your concern, I expect no less, but Erin is a trusted comrade of Thatch, and if Thatch trust him with his life I trust him with mine. Plus, even if he does betray us, Annabeth will help us out. Her job is to keep us alive after all," Legs joked, laughing following her statement. Anna sat back, her expression bored. She was of the same mind that they brought far too many for a simple island. She shrugged. "I've been well; busy coordinating health networks and navigating tensions between ethnic/traditional medicine and the practice of more modern remedies. Progress is being made though," Anna responded. She smirked. "I could always attach you to a tree. You're tall enough to be one anyway." Legs chuckled at Annabeth's joke. "Yes, I guess that is true. But, let me be serious for like two minutes." Legs scratched her throat to verbalize her transition. "To clarify, there is no room for failure; I will not tolerate it here. This island is important, moreso than important, it is essential in our empire's success. The gold reservoirs on this place almost dwarf the remaining reservoir of gold we have available in our Empire, and as we continue to grow, we need to acquire more resources. To hire more men, doctors, shipwrights, to maintain our nation, we require more funds, and this one island can supply us enough money to live as Kings and Queens for decades," Legs continued to speak. "This is an opportunity to depower our enemies and empower ourselves. Do I make myself clear in that failure will have severe repercussions?" Jack turned his attention to Indiana, who'd been doing his usual tea sipping. At times, his ritual reminded him of woman gossip, but he knew Indiana was far from that gender in both appearance and mindset. "If the Captain states this is okay, then I will 'chill'." Another one of his arctic fogs left his mouth, emphasizing the word "chill". After his brief exchange with Indiana, Legs spoke and made herself heard among the deck of the ship. Following her declaration, Jack got on one knee and held his head down. Honoring not only her presence but her words. "Yes. I owe you my life, Captain." He responded, thinking back to when she saved him from nearly being imprisoned in Impel Down. "Would suck to be that tree." Erin laughed, he could understand their weariness. "But as Legs said I'm here to help, taking out the World Government is something I'm always up for." He stated, giving a nod to the rest of the crew. He was excited to get things underway. "Excellent as always Annabeth." Thatch hummed happily as he turned his attention to Legs. Her words were firm and powerful, befitting of a Yonko such as herself. "Not often that you let me stretch my Legs, this really is important isn't it. I'm assuming no room for failure means my restrictions are gone right Legs?" Thatch laughed aloud, cracking his neck sickeningly. "I'm really excited for this now." "Indeed, all restrictions are lifted," Legs made clear. "We will fulfill our mission by any means necessary." Marine Emergency Call About Two Hours Before Legs Woke Up Within a very large cabin, Solomon laid in a bed searching out the window that gave a circular view of the sea. It had just been less than twenty-four hours since he’d gotten into his scuffle with MuuMuu, one of Legs’ own Yokai. Solomon’s body still ached from the kick he’d taken from the woman and the metal he’d been provided to eat, seemed to have been working slower than usual. Being bedridden wasn’t really his style and quite frankly it was boring. Though, it ordered, from Roselia and surely getting a pummeling from her was far worse than the battle he’d just fought, or so he’d thought. Leaping from the bed, he rushed to the door and slowly opened it, trying his best to keep it from making any noises so that it wouldn’t alter anyone. Once it opened wide enough he crept from behind it and slowly made his way towards the deck of the Marine vessel. He looked to the back of the ship he’d been standing on and noticed another Marine ship following behind them. The second ship had a giant following behind it, appear as tho it had been pushing the ship along. "Oh right!" He thought, slowly beginning to piece things together. “We couldn’t just drag that damn box, it’d take fore-” "Commodore Gintaka." His name being called cut him from his own thoughts and as he would turn around he’d notice Roselia standing behind him. "I thought I told you, stay in bed." Each word sounded more intimidating than the last and once she finished, she held her fist up and coated it with a layer of lava. Solomon's eyes began to drift in opposite directions, then he took a deep breath. “I’m the Commodore, you are the Captain. I do, what I want!" Roselia's eyes widened, she’d been surprised by his statement nonetheless. "Good you know that, now as I said, should you be in bed?” The lava from her fist slowly began to travel along her body. PURUPURUPURUPURU Roselia and Solomon looked at each other, both trying to pinpoint the location of the ringing Den Den Mushi. PURUPURUPURUPURU PURUPURUPURUPURU Solomon began to frantically pat his body down. From around the side of a ship, a Marine soldier came running holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand. The snail had long silver hair with a white Den Den Mushi attached to its side. Solomon quickly reached for the snail and picked it up as if he’d known who’d it been. “Fur, we have a problem…” The voice said without even introducing itself. After a few minutes, Solomon hung the Den Den Mushi up and let out a deep sigh. "An order from Byakko…" With a deep breath, he continued. "I want you to get on the ship behind and head for Geror Island. I’ll meet you there once I’m done with his orders." Roselia simply nodded and turned around headed towards the back of the boat. A million thoughts ran through her head, but she knew when the word "Byakko" left his mouth, she knew not to question any of Solomon’s commands. Lifting his wrist to his mouth, Solomon revealed a small Den Den Mushi. "Calling all nearby Marine forces." His voice more stern and stiff than usual. "This is Commodore Gintaka, turn your ships towards the direction of El Dorado, we have been ordered to head there immediately. Direct orders from Byakko himself!" ---- At the coast of the island, outside of the temporary base of the Marines about ten Marine soldiers gathered with Solomon and another unidentified Marine soldier stated to his side. A few big names gathered; Ernest, Bambina, Peg Nez, Esposito X. Marco, Fairisles Margaret, Ferrothorn Braxton, Riz, and Cigar Rette. Solomon reached to his side and placed his hand on the shoulder of the man standing next to him. "This here is Captain Gabaldon Guy. He's the man who's in charge of El Dorado. I'll let him give you all a very short debriefing, then we'll go over a strategy." "As the Commodore stated, I am Guy. Just over an hour ago one of the soldiers here spotted a Pirate ship that flew a flag the entire world knows. It belonged to the Black Widow Pirates. Recently, Legs has been at odds with the King of this city, trying to get her hands on the Goldmine this city houses. We believe Legs' men are on their way here to conqueror El Dorado." Guy wiped sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath, before continuing on. "If this is true, the manpower we have on this island will not be enough to defend against even two of Legs' commanders." Solomon surveyed all of the Marine members there, then placed his hand on his chin as though he'd been thinking about something. "I know you've heard this plenty of times, but the Marines formation is looking pretty shitty. We are in a crisis, I'm surprised that we were even able to gather these big names that we did." He looked around the circle but specifically at Ernest who's currently been holding the highest rank. "Byakko said he'd send reinforcements as soon as possible, but even then it'd take more than twenty-four hours before they'd reach here." Solomon thought back to the fact that while he'd be able to fight, any fatal hit to his abdomen would probably put him out of commission for a while. "We'd be fighting a fight for over twenty-four hours against opponents we have yet to face." While this meaningless conversation was going on, Nez was down to what really matters. She excitedly scooped samples of the soil into small tubes and capped them before moving to an area with the exact same dirt and doing the same. Various machines and contraptions beeped happily in reaction to her surroundings, and the woman overall appeared to be much more interested in running tests than anything else. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" A yell filled everyone's ears, as none other than Bambina flexed his muscles out of his signature Kimono, the place shaking alongside him. "Tis' fresh air!" He didn't give much thought to Gabaldon Guy's introduction, he already knew him. Sharing a glance at the scientist Nez, Bambina snickered, mouth thin, such a crazy woman. "The Yonko again, huh?" Bambina scratched his long beard, one eyebrow cocking up. They seemed to have been too busy nowadays, though, admittedly, some of them seemed to be hanging up on a fourth. "I fought it off with tis' guy las' week 'n all... Payback, it was, the lad that constantly kicks Bigdwun-boy's arse!" As he said so, Bambina cupped his stomach and torso, many sore spots still present from that fight. In truth, he didn't know if he were truly at his peak for El Dorado. The entire time they two men had been talking, Lieutenant Commander Rette had been trying his best to light a fire to his cigar as secretly as he could. He slowly rolled his hand down the flint wheel of the light but kept falling short of being able to have his light create a strong enough light to give fire to his cigar. "Shit." He thought to himself, looking to his left and right making sure he didn't become the center of attention. He'd gotten fed up with not being able to light it and nearly wanted to bang his head into the ground he stood on. Solomon took a slight pause between his words and this was Rette's chance. Cuffing his hands over his nose, mostly trying to hide his lighter and cigar, he let out a powerful sneeze. "Achooo!" His sneeze and the lighter's flicker spark in perfect unison, giving light and sparking the cigar. He took a large puff of his cigar and held the smoke in for a few seconds, then exhaled and let it all flow out of his mouth. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slightly began to rock his body as though he'd been listening to a song. Removing the cigar from his mouth, he then held it in his fingers and began to hunch his shoulders while continuing to rock. "Oooooohhhh, weeeee..." He hummed continuing to dance. It wasn't long before Rette had begun snapping his fingers while continuing to dance and hum. "Sheeee's my maaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiin thang." By now he'd added swaying left and right into his dance. Even though words were coming out, he managed to keep them low enough so that no one could hear. "She makes me feel alright. She makes my heart siiiiiiiiing." The Commodore in the center of the circle had his eyes perched on Nez then on Rette. "Okay, two things here. What in the, what is she doing? And second, what was that, Rette? I'm not about to ignore that? Were you, dancing?" Solomon asked, directing his questions to both Nez and Rette. To those around, Rette would appear as though he'd been in his own little world. "Cloud nine baby.. cloud fuckin' nine." He thought to himself, finally snapping back to reality. "Did ya' say twenty-four damned hours? Got damn, I ain't bring enough wee-.... I ain't bring enough Cigars for this shit. Regardless.." Just as he'd respond, Bambina let out a screech. "I hope. This idiot. Doesn't blow. My high." He thought to himself. Nez happily planted a small pencil in the ground to mark a specific position for some future use. She then watched in abject horror as Rette stumbled around and not only snapped her pencil, but scuffed the dirt that she had wished to study. Promptly losing her balance and falling directly onto Bambina in a pressingly dramatic fashion, it didn't take much talent to see that this small group of Marines was quickly falling out of control. Silently seated a close distance away from her fellow marines with a blank expression on her face Margaret merely continued to watch the interactions of the others finding their varied behaviors to be interesting because dispite the looming threat of the current strongest of the Yonko, the Black Widow herself the majority of the assembled marines acted as they normally would with was rather odd to her. Allowing her eyes to wonder casually around the room as various strategies began formulating within her mind as well as calculating the possibility of their succession which she estimated was quite low but that is merely due to her not fully knowing the capabilities all everyone present something she swore she would take notice and document during the battle to futhur ensure which marine she would work nest along with her mind briefly drifting to the image of Middwun before she dragged her focus back to the matter at hand. Idly she wondered if her recent advancement with the would prove helpful with the upcoming battle that she was positive was only a few hours away. Shaking her head slightly and clenching her fist Margaret shook her thoughts free of those negative emotions knowing full well that they were the result of the nervousness that she desperately attempted to bury. "Everyone." The Vice Admiral, Ernest spoke. He had attempted to maintain a commanding visage, in these trying times, as the highest ranked Marine, he had to maintain a level of authority over his subordinates. This was made especially clear with his encounter with Admiral Fuyuki and Kurama. They commanded a level of respect that was frightening, to say the very least. "I understand we are all a bit on edge, but that's precisely why we need to discuss our tactics. We have twenty-four hours to protect this place from being fully conquered. We need to find key targets to protect on this island. Captain Gabaldon, what are the most important parts of El Dorado that secure our control over it? We have very little time before an attack reaches these shores." "I agree." Solomon responded, directing his words at Ernest. Reaching over to grab Nez by the collar, he lifted her from the ground. "Now is not the time for playing and laughter. If you aren't here, with the intentions of possibly losing your life for the sake of the World," He spun Nez around so that she'd face him directly in his eyes. "Then leave, now." "Failure is not an option and if you feel as though I do not possess the traits necessary to lead this defense, then step forward and test it yourselves." Solomon let there be a moment of silence, still locking his eyes on Nez. For a moment, it would feel as though Nez could feel Solomon's presence being projected over her. Opening his palm, he allowed Nez to fall back to the ground and fixed his sights onto Guy. "As stated, could you share with us the location of the most important parts of El Dorado. We will head to those locations and split into groups, to guard them accordingly." That entire time, Commander Braxton seemed to have kept a level head. The entire time, he had his sights locked onto Solomon, as though he'd been admiring him. After all, the Commodore was his elder brother. It had been quite some time since they'd seen each other, about a year to be exact, but he decided to remain quiet and simply went with the flow of everything. Chief Petty Officier Riz stood firm at his side. Doge squirmed his way through the circle and leaned up against Solomon so that he could whisper into his ear. "Stein has stated he's sending "it"-gr." Removing himself from within the circle, Doge walked back inside of the Marine base. 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